Sunday, September 9, 2007

My Mother Should Have Been a Writer.

I was clicking through a friend's blogroll and came upon this blog. The first post I read was about working amidst chaos and it really rang a bell with me, but even more so did the Word of the Day, " rapscallion".

Rapscallion was one of my mother's favorite words and she had many. Her daily speech held words that deliciously filled the mouth with rich vowels and muted dipthongs and bold words that employed teeth, tongue and lips to give them full effect. Just say "rapscallion" and tell me you don't like the feel of it as it escapes from the mouth to be sounded. Now, say it louder, as a chastisement. Perfect, isn't it? I must remember to say it to The Boy the next time he is mischievous.

My mother didn't always use words strictly according to definition. Sometimes she went for texture and effect over meaning. My mother probably should have been a writer, but I don't think she was ever encouraged in creative areas. However, she was a wonderful storyteller. I wish that I could remember enough details from her childhood stories to write them all down. They were stories that were full of childhood mischief and peppered with colorful phrases never heard outside her family.

I wonder now if her surviving younger sister would know some of these stories. I know she would tell them in the same downeast Maine accent and excited tone. Now I have a project. Thanks for that Word of the Day, Easy-Writer.

2 comments:

This idea of collecting memories ans recording them in book form or as video or audio is a perfect idea. I have done some transcribing of diaries, letters and audio for families and they are treasures. I can see your book now "Tales my Mother Told Me." You would write it in beautiful fashion.

The funny thing is, I always said I would write a book some day and call it "Why Keep Dogs and Bark Myself?" so it seemed a natural title for this blog.

I just wish I had started years ago. There are fewer surviving members of her family left as time goes on.

One thing I wished I had done years ago but didn't was search out some genealogy. My mother had all these stories about her family and where they all came from - turns out, she was right about some of it. Maybe another post someday...